Final Four 2011: Will a National Championship Vindicate John Calipari?

The Kentucky Wildcats are in the Final Four and they are one of the favorites to cut down the nets.

Much of the credit for the fantastic year can be given to coach John Calipari. By bringing Kentucky to the Final Four, Calipari tied legendary coach Rick Pitino as the only person to go to the Final Four with three different teams.

This is quite a feat for any coach in college basketball, but if you check the official stat books you won’t see any record of it.

That’s because Calipari’s programs have always been surrounded by controversy.

Problems Start in UMass

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It all started when Calipari performed wonderfully as the head coach at UMass. The little school from the Atlantic10 had made little noise in college basketball before Calipari was hired on as the head man.

Calipari led UMass to the Final Four in 1996, behind the great play of Marcus Camby. A thorough investigation revealed that Marcus Camby received improper benefits from an agent, which is a NCAA violation.

Calipari denied any knowledge of the incident between Camby and his agent, and the NCAA cleared him of any wrong doing.

UMass had the records revoked, and the banner was removed from the rafters. UMass has not been able to match the success since Calipari left the school.

New School, Same Problem

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After a brief stint in the NBA, Calipari returned to college basketball to coach the Memphis Tigers.

As expected, Calipari did not skip a beat and recruited some of the best players in the game. Calipari once again returned to the Final Four in a remarkable 2008 season with the Tigers, which was led by the superb play of point guard Derrick Rose.

An investigation by the Memphis Commercial Appeal uncovered the fact that a player was academically ineligible to play. The problem is that player was arguably one of the best in the country and most certainly the best on Memphis, Derrick Rose.

The NCAA alleged the prospective player became eligible after an "unknown individual" completed his SAT.

The story was proved to be true, and the school was punished. However, Calipari was—once again—cleared of any wrong doing.

Soon after the finding, Calipari left Memphis and secured a job with the Kentucky Wildcats.

Memphis was forced to forfeit its NCAA-record 38 victories and Final Four appearance. Memphis has not been able to match the success since Calipari left the school.

Cut Cal a Break

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Like him or not, John Calipari is an outstanding coach.

The job he has done with a young group of kids in Kentucky has been nothing short of amazing. Calipari does not need a title to be vindicated, but if Kentucky does win the national championship, the talk of his past should be replaced with praise for today’s team.

Calipari is one of the best coaches in the game today, and he should be recognized and applauded for his work.

While others will chose to scrutinize and criticize for violations in the past, it’s time to stand up and applaud Calipari as the great coach that he is.

Matt Regaw is a B/R Featured Columnist and the founder of BookieBlitz.com,your one-stop shop for sports articles, previews and predictions. Feel free to contact Matt at mregaw@gmail.com.